Madison Long

The Gettysburg Address was a very integral speech. Abraham Lincoln believed that his speech would help the South realize that what they were doing was wrong and that what we were doing was right. The speech was about all of the people whose lives were lost, and it was also about doing the right thing. Like Lincoln stated, “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.” What Lincoln, I believe, means is that the right thing to do is to keep fighting, win the war or the south, and the people who lost their lives during the war will be remembered. Lincoln believed that the right thing to do was to preserve the union. The South believed that they were not a part of the Union. They did not want to be a part of the Union. So in order to preserve the Union, we had to beat the South or make them surrender. In some ways Lincoln’s speech was not about all of the lives lost, it was to encourage people to continue fighting and to tell people that the right thing to do was to beat the South and preserve the Union from falling apart. Lincoln thought that his speech was not going to matter. He didn’t think that it would be such a big ordeal as it turned out to be. Lincoln’s speech is one of the greatest speeches to ever be read. Even though his was not two hours long, it was short and sweet. Lincoln said what he needed to say and that was that. This is why I believe Gettysburg Address was important.
Madison Long
Fisher High School
Fisher, IL